Diminazene (

INN Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...

; also known as diminazen) is an anti-infective

medication Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to medical diagnosis, diagnose, cure, treat, or preventive medicine, prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmaco ...

for animals that is sold under a variety of brand names. It is effective against certain

protozoa Protozoa (: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a polyphyletic group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic debris. Historically ...

such as ''

Babesia ''Babesia'', also called ''Nuttallia'', is an apicomplexan parasite that infects red blood cells and is transmitted by ticks. Originally discovered by Romanian bacteriologist Victor Babeș in 1888; over 100 species of ''Babesia'' have since ...

'', ''

Trypanosoma ''Trypanosoma'' is a genus of kinetoplastids (class Trypanosomatidae), a monophyletic group of unicellular parasitic flagellate protozoa. Trypanosoma is part of the phylum Euglenozoa. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek ''trypano-'' (b ...

'', and '' Cytauxzoon''. The drug may also be effective against certain

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

including ''

Brucella ''Brucella'' is a genus of Gram-negative bacterium, bacteria, named after David Bruce (microbiologist), David Bruce (1855–1931). They are small (0.5 to 0.7 by 0.6 to 1.5 μm), non-Bacterial capsule, encapsulated, non-motile, facultatively ...

'' and ''

Streptococcus ''Streptococcus'' is a genus of gram-positive spherical bacteria that belongs to the family Streptococcaceae, within the order Lactobacillales (lactic acid bacteria), in the phylum Bacillota. Cell division in streptococci occurs along a sing ...

''. Chemically it is a di-

amidine Amidines are organic compounds with the functional group RC(NR)NR2, where the R groups can be the same or different. They are the imine derivatives of amides (RC(O)NR2). The simplest amidine is formamidine, HC(=NH)NH2. Examples of amidines includ ...

and it is formulated as its

aceturate Aceturic acid (''N''-acetylglycine) is a derivative of the amino acid glycine. The conjugate base of this carboxylic acid is called ''aceturate'', a term used for its esters and salts. Preparation Aceturic acid can be prepared by warming glycine ...

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

, diminazene aceturate. The mechanism is not well understood; it probably inhibits

DNA replication In molecular biology, DNA replication is the biological process of producing two identical replicas of DNA from one original DNA molecule. DNA replication occurs in all life, living organisms, acting as the most essential part of heredity, biolog ...

, but also has affinity to

RNA Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule that is essential for most biological functions, either by performing the function itself (non-coding RNA) or by forming a template for the production of proteins (messenger RNA). RNA and deoxyrib ...

Side effects

Acute side effects include vomiting, diarrhea, and

hypotension Hypotension, also known as low blood pressure, is a cardiovascular condition characterized by abnormally reduced blood pressure. Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps out blood and is ...

(low blood pressure). Diminazen can harm the liver, kidneys and brain, which is potentially life-threatening; camels are especially susceptible to these effects.

Resistance

The

Gibe River The Gibe River (also Great Gibe River) is by far the largest tributary of the Omo River in southwestern Ethiopia and flows generally south-southeast. The confluence of the Gibe River with the smaller Wabe River forms the Omo River. The whole dr ...

Valley in southwest

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

showed universal resistance between July 1989 and February 1993. This likely indicates a permanent loss of function in this area against the tested target, '' T. congolense'' isolated from

Boran cattle Boran cattle are a popular Zebu beef breed in eastern Africa. Through DNA sampling, Hanotte et al. have analyzed the genetic make-up of the Boran and it consists of the following genetic proportions—64% ''Bos indicus'', 24% European ''Bos tau ...

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite journal , vauthors = Mulugeta W, Wilkes J, Mulatu W, Majiwa PA, Masake R, Peregrine AS , title = Long-term occurrence of Trypanosoma congolense resistant to diminazene, isometamidium and homidium in cattle at Ghibe, Ethiopia , journal = Acta Tropica , volume = 64 , issue = 3–4 , pages = 205–217 , date = April 1997 , pmid = 9107367 , doi = 10.1016/s0001-706x(96)00645-6 , publisher =

Elsevier Elsevier ( ) is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as ''The Lancet'', ''Cell (journal), Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, ...

BV , s2cid = 23878484 Amidines Antiprotozoal agents Veterinary drugs Triazenes